Historic Headlines

On Dec. 12, 1963, Kenya gained its independence from Britain. “With Britain’s Union Jack replaced by the black, red and green flag of the new states, political power in Britain’s last East African colonial holding slipped from the grasp of its 55,759 whites and was taken up by its 8,365,942 Africans,” wrote The New York Times.

The road to independence began in the 1950s with the Mau Mau Rebellion. The Mau Mau movement was a militant African nationalist group that opposed British colonial rule and its exploitation of the native population.

Mau Mau members, made up primarily of Kikuyu (the largest ethnic group in Kenya), carried out violent attacks against colonial leaders and white settlers. In 1952, the colonial government declared a state of emergency and arrested many Kenyan independence leaders, including moderates who had little or no connection to the Mau Mau, like Jomo Kenyatta, president of the Kenya African Union.
Between 1952 and 1956, the British defeated the Mau Mau through a brutal campaign of military action and widespread detention of the Kikuyu. However, the Mau Mau Rebellion also persuaded the British that social, political and agrarian reforms were necessary. In 1957, the British allowed for the first direct elections of native leaders to the Legislative Council and by 1960, Africans were a majority in the council.

Over the next several years, the British worked with African and white settler leaders to plan the country’s transition to independence. These conferences produced a constitution in 1963 that provided for the creation of a bicameral legislature with elections held that May. The Kenya African National Union won majorities in both houses and selected its leader, Kenyatta, who had been released from prison in 1961, to be the first prime minister of the new nation.

On the day of Kenya’s independence, The Times reported, “There is every indication that Kenya will evolve into a one-party state in the pattern of nearly every other black country on the continent.” Kenyatta indeed did consolidate; in 1964, he had the legislature create the position of president and grant him considerable executive powers. Later that year, the Kenya African National Union and its main opposition party united to form a party with near-complete control over the government, and in 1969 Kenyatta banned a new opposition party so he could run unopposed.

The strengthening of presidential powers exacerbated ethnic divisions in the country and “led to staggering levels of corruption,” according to the Times Topics: Kenya overview page. In 2010, Kenya amended its constitution so that it “curtails the powers of an imperial-style presidency, paves the way for much-needed land reform and gives Kenyans a bill of rights.”

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In 2011, four older Kenyans won the right to sue the British government in a British court for severe abuse they suffered during the Mau Mau Rebellion. The extent of the abuse toward Mau Mau suspects, including President Obama’s grandfather, who reportedly spent two years detained in a prison camp, was exposed when historians uncovered documents that had been withheld from the U.K. National Archives.

In an April Letter from Europe in The Times, Alan Cowell used the court case as a starting point to reflect on the abuses of the British Empire: “While [baby] boomers were sharpening their pencils in class, young British soldiers, not much older than they, were beating, torturing, raping and even castrating people in the far reaches of Africa … raising a question more familiar to modern Germans than modern Britons: Are the sins of one generation to be visited on its successors?”

He also quoted author Charles Glass who argues: ” In so many of the world’s troublesome corners — Cyprus, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Kenya and Iraq — a stamp says ‘Made in Britain.’ Britain cannot undo most of the damage.”

Do you agree that many of today’s global conflicts have roots in their colonial pasts? If so, to what extent do the events and policies of past empires continue to influence current generations? If not, why not?

i love my country regardless of our shortcomings, am proud of my heritage and origin regardless our our ethnicity and differences, inspite of or because of the problems i have faced growing up, i have learned valuable lessons in life……..i hate our politicians, they let us down and divide us too often, but i have hope for this nation…we are more than capable to walk the long journey to building a successful nation….najivunia kuwa mkenya

Colonial empires had a role to play in the current global conflicts. A case in point is the Kenya Coast in which the colonial government cobbled up a region to be dominated by another just to suit their own interests. 50 years down the line, poverty and misery is the way of life of the majority. The agreements signed by the leaders did not take into consideration the larger population and after independence our own leaders failed to correct the past. if they did anything was to continue the tradition of the colonialists. i love my country, but we have suffered due to our ignorance and our love for free things. As a result we are caught up in the never ending struggle for a better Kenya.Najivunia, but nasikitika pia.

After 50 years of independence, we can’t blame it all on colonialism. We have had an equal contribution! Though the colonialist sowed seeds of mistrust, we have failed to agree on basics – despite our knowledge. People talk about uniting Africa, yet they are engaged in petty boundary disputes. Even in Kenya, we could not agree on new boundaries for county governments. we had to settle on those drawn by colonialists as districts.

From shoes, socks, cars, name them: African leaders all look to the West. Even their children study overseas. And, they are really proud of that!! When sick, they are flown overseas. If Mandela were Kibaki, Museveni of Mugabe, am sure he could be in the UK!!

Inside, we have a colonial hangover and are Eurocentric! We can’t keep on blaming an enemy who left 50 years ago!